Mel Gibson clears up the mystery of whether or not he is an anti-Semite

Well folks, I'm glad we got that pesky question settled...

Is Mel Gibson an anti-Semite? Until his recent drunk-driving arrest, the only way to investigate that hypothesis was to study Gibson's controversial 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, or to puzzle out why Gibson, in an interview with Peggy Noonan for Reader's Digest, declined to put any distance between himself and his father's crackpot view that the Holocaust never occurred. "[I]f someone denies the Holocaust one day and makes a film accusing Jews of Christ-killing the next day," my Slate colleague Christopher Hitchens reasoned, "I have to say that if he's not anti-Jewish then he's certainly getting there." There remained at least a theoretical possibility that this was all just a terrible misunderstanding. That possibility no longer exists. The best case that can be made for Gibson's belief system now is that he's anti-Semitic only when he's three sheets to the wind. And really, now. Are you in the habit of declaring, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" when you get pie-eyed? Or simply of muttering, "Fu**ing Jews"? Or of asking your arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?" (Here Gibson revealed an anti-Jewish bigotry so all-consuming that he couldn't even get his ethnic stereotypes straight. The Jews control international banking, Mel. It's the Irish who control the police.)

For good measure, Gibson turned on a policewoman observing his meltdown and said, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar t*ts?"

--From Slate.com

There's more. Read the police report. In vino veritas indeed...

But it gets weirder. Mel was apparently directing a TV series for ABC on the Holocaust. Naturally, ABC has decided not to proceed and the project is canceled. Mel has checked himself into rehab (a move we applaud) and now Disney is having doubts about Gibson's latest film, Apocalypto. Clearly, this drunken outburst will not bode well for his career.

There's a moral here for all of us. I suppose the bigots among us could point to Gibson's troubles and say, "see, the Jews DO control Hollywood!" But that arguement is crap.

I think the real moral is this: Nothing turns one of the beautiful people uglier faster than when they display intolerance and bigotry. Men like Gibson are held up as role models and when the behavior of our role models is less than honorable, it hurts all of us. Those who are wiser might point out that perhaps Hollywood actors probably aren't the best role models for our society, a point to which I would agree.

As a Freemason I kind of think that providing men who are good role models for our communities is OUR responsibility.

Comments

[Billy]

I am a Mason and a Jew and could not care less about the rantings of a poor man who is ill.

All I can do is hope that he finds the help he needs and continues making good movies.

Could be that a little Masonry is the answer?

I enjoy your posts.

Billy

[Eric Diamond]

I believe you are right, but I'm not holding my breath, as Gibson is a member of a splinter sect of Roman Catholicism that is so conservative that it was kicked out of the mainstream Church. I'm afraid they take a dim view of Freemasonry.

However you bring up an interesting point. And that is the civic idea that we are expected to separate our personal religious dogma from our duty in a pluralistic society. I think this is one of the central tenets of Freemasonry, is it not?

It seems to have real implications in Hollywood, too. Steven Spielberg seems to think that Tom Cruise's religious proselytization for the Church of Scientology while on a promotional tour was partly to blame for the low box office turnout of War of the Worlds. (Remember Oprah and her couch?) I had no problem with Tom's choice of religion, but proseltyzing on "company time" (he's supposed to be promoting his film) is downright creepy. Especially on Oprah. That's double-creepy. ;-)

I guess my point is that while it would be easy to characterize this as the rantings of one who is mentally ill, it does not excuse the fact that he is a cultural influencer. Isn't there a responsibility in that? Gibson makes movies portraying heroes who sacrifice their fortunes, lives and liberty for values like Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for all (except perhaps, the English). Perhaps he could watch them again and take a lesson or two from William Wallace and Benjamin Martin.

My sadness in this is that Gibson's alcoholism is an illness. His bigotry is a much more insidious evil. One that history has shown us, is contagious and virulent.

Normally, Hollywood doesn't interest me, but I am interested in finding the Masonic lessons in everyday life, and this jumped out to me as to the value of a tenet like the Masonic respect of all faiths.

[Tom Accuosti]

Mel has finally Tom-Crusied himself.

A mind is a terrible thing, too wasted.

The Tao of Masonry

[Pi.]

Nothing brings the bigot out in a person more than alcohol.

[Vlad]

Did I detect a bit of a tirade against Christianity there? How pie-eyed were you when you wrote that?

So you and Christopher Hitchens are buds, huh?

[Eric Diamond]

Nope, not a bit. Christianity though comes in many flavors. I have a long history of ecumenicalism. When I was a kid I used to hold a Passover Seder for the local Baptist Sunday school (I was 9 years old) so my Christitan friends could get a sense of what the Last Supper was about. I learned from them who Jesus was and what he was about. It was fun and they were the nicest people.

I came away from that experience learning that Christians and Jews had a lot to teach each other. Christianity is just fine by me. It is those individuals and groups who call themselves Christians, spreading hate and intolerance that I have a problem with. I think if you go back and read carefully again, you'll see that my issue is with Mel and not with Jesus.

And normally I don't care for Hitchens' writing, but somehow this struck a nerve. And I swear officer I didn't have ANYTHING to drink. (hic).

[Eric Diamond]

Recently, there have been several comments left that were of a prejudicial and hateful nature. They were anti-semitic, but more importantly they were anti-masonic. When I originally made this post, it was to point out that hate in whatever form it takes, runs counter to our Masonic values.

I happen to be Jewish. I'm proud of it, and I make no secret about it. However I am completely ecumenical. I find beauty in Christianity, I find a profound sense of justice and fairness in Islam and a wonderful sophicstication in Hindu devotions. In fact I find value in most religions.

I also value the comments here. I am totally cool with any of you criticizing my words and my ideas. But I cannot tolerate disrespectful language toward others. Part of Masonry is that we can differ in our opinions in a respectful way. I therefore have unpublished these comments.

This is a thread that is not strictly Masonic, and i guess in that respect I opened myself up for attacks (especially by anti-masons). On a personal standpoint, Gibson's remarks hurt, and since this is my blog, and I like to think we're friends here, I thought I could express a little off topic to get a conversation going about what this episode DID have to do with Masonry. The comments have been interesting. I've been accused of being anti-Christian, of being part of a freedom-squelching pro-Jewish Masonic plot and of hating freedom of speech.

The truth is I deeply respect freedom of speech. Say whatever you like, provided it is respectful and with the due bounds of our Obligations. Every time I delete a comment I agonize over it. I also have a board of advisors here at X-Oriente. these are learned Masonic scholars, and before I delete a comment, they have looked at it to determine that it has no intellectual merit. I am not here to censor legitimate discourse, but I will act to preserve harmony here.

This is not a public forum, but a private blog. We are here for a purpose, and if *your* purpose is to expose the Anarcho-Zionist-Luciferian-Liberal-Secular-Anti-Christian-Masonic Plot to penetrate the tinfoil on your head and steal your brain, I respectfully ask that you do it over at the alt.freemasonry Usenet group where it belongs, or start your own blog. It doesn't belong here.

As far as I am concerned, this thread is done. I said what I wanted to say, and the conversation is only turning toward a distraction from the work ahead of us as Freemasons. I am therefore closing comments to this thread. If you have strong opinions, please email me and we can continue the discussion. Thanks, everybody for understanding.